Detecting and characterizing special nuclear material for nuclear nonproliferation applications

S. A. Pozzi, Z. He, J. Hutchinson, I. Jovanovic, R. Lopez, K. Ogren, J. Nattress, D. Shy, S. D. Clarke

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

1 Scopus citations

Abstract

There is an urgent need for new, better instrumentation and techniques for detecting and characterizing special nuclear material (SNM), i.e., highly enriched uranium and plutonium. The development of improved instruments and techniques requires experiments performed with the SNM itself, which is of limited availability. This paper describes the findings of experiments performed at the National Criticality Experiments Research Center conducted using new instruments and techniques on unclassified, kg-quantity SNM objects. These experiments, performed in the framework of the Department of Energy, National Nuclear Security Administration Consortium for Monitoring, Technology, and Verification, focused on detecting, characterizing, and localizing SNM samples with masses ranging from 3.3 to 13.8 kg, including plutonium and highly enriched uranium using prototype detectors and techniques. The work demonstrates SNM detection and characterization using recently-developed prototype detection systems. Specifically, we present new results in passive detection and imaging of plutonium and uranium objects using gamma-ray and dual particle (fast neutron and gamma-ray) imaging. We also present a new analysis of the delayed neutron emissions during active interrogation of uranium using a neutron generator.

Original languageEnglish
Article number10432
JournalScientific Reports
Volume13
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - Dec 2023

Funding

This work was supported in-part by the Consortium for Monitoring, Technology, and Verification under Department of Energy National Nuclear Security Administration award number DE-NA0003920. NCERC is supported by the DOE Nuclear Criticality Safety Program, funded and managed by the National Nuclear Security Administration for the Department of Energy.

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